Friday, January 14, 2005

I'm sure you've seen it by now, but Florida safety prospect Ray Herring didn't simply commit to ND yesterday, he shot out of a cannon, with an infectious enthusiasm and effusive praise for all things Irish:

I WANT TO BE A MEMBER OF THE FIGHTING IRISH! Notre Dame is a special place. A really special place. The people are genuine and you can tell they truly care. The campus is spectacular and the coaching staff is second to none.

Coach Weis has 26 years of experience, 15 in the NFL, and 3 Super Bowl rings. The assistants he has brought in are absolutely incredible. On his staff he has brought in three former college head coaches, former NFL assistant coaches and college coaches with great experience. My position coaches include Coach Bill Lewis, who coached the Miami Dolphins secondary for nine years, and Coach Brian Polian, who is young, enthusiastic, and has a strong resume coaching in college. Coach Polian is also the coach who has been recruiting me and his fire and passion for Notre Dame is contagious.

Notre Dame has an overall graduation rate of 99% among its football program, the best coaches in college football, an extremely talented team whose program boasts an unmatched record of success, history and tradition.

With a national schedule of top ranked opponents, national television and radio broadcasts, all combined with the best fans in the entire nation, how could anyone not jump at the chance to be a part of the Notre Dame family?

I spoke with Coach Weis today and told him that I wanted to call OUR other recruits and get them to South Bend. So, if you're a Notre Dame recruit and haven't committed to us yet, get ready because Ray's gonna be calling ya!

Come to Notre Dame, get one of the best educations in the nation, at the best university in the nation, with the best team and coaches in the nation! Come to Notre Dame and help us bring home a 12th National Championship to the Irish fans...maybe more! Oh yeah, one more thing... GO IRISH!!!

Great stuff from a great kid. And it's refreshing to see such unbridled optimism from a kid who hasn't even enrolled yet, especially in light of what some of our prominent alums in the media spewed forth about ND in the past weeks. As the Weis era unfolds, the future seems more and more sanguine, and statements like Aaron Taylor's "the mystique is dead!" harden and crinkle into what they really are: cheap, smug, self-serving brownie points. Taylor, Rocket and even Golic (to a lesser extent) jumped off at the first stop when they thought the bus was going to break down; instead, our ride's been revamped, retooled, and tricked-out. Right about now, I bet they're wishing they'd stayed on board.

Another familiar face may be returning to Notre Dame. Wide receiver Tim Brown, the most recent of the Irish's seven Heisman Trophy winners (1987), might join the staff of new football coach Charlie Weis, himself a graduate of the university.

Notre Dame associate athletic director John Heisler confirmed that Brown was on campus on Thursday. Brown did not meet with Weis, who is in New England preparing for the Patriots' playoff game Sunday against Indianapolis. Heisler did confirm that Brown and Weis have spoken on the phone.

If Brown were to return, it likely would be as the team's director of player development. Though he wouldn't go on the road to recruit, he still could play a significant role in convincing top-tier players to commit to Notre Dame after they arrive for a campus visit.

I guess Tim didn't get the Aaron Taylor memo about dead mystique and all that.

Now I'm not usually given to irrational exuberance in this forum, but my reaction to Tim Brown returning home would go something like this.

An Oldie but a Goodie

While we wait for Fox to dream up a recruiting reality show for prime time TV (next week on The Recruit...David Nelson's got a surprise, and you won't BELIEVE what it is!) here's an old story about one of our favorite punching bags.

During my junior year in 1999, two of my female friends from Welsh Hall went off-campus to the 7-Eleven Store on the corner of Edison and Jefferson. They were shopping for snacks when they heard someone in the rear of the store banging on the hot dog machine (you know the kind -- the multi-pronged device capable of cooking up nasty 7-Eleven nostril-dogs at any time of day).

It turns out to be Bob Davie, who was having problems getting the little plastic door open.

According to my friends, when his last attempt to get the door open failed, Bob slammed his fist against the side of the machine and bellowed, "I swear, this whole town is trying to f--- me!"

I don't know what's funnier...Boob's interjection or the fact that he was noshing on hot dogs from 7-Eleven. I always wondered if anyone actually ate those rotating chunks of hardened grizzle. Now we know. (Thanks to Buddy Jeans over on NDN for the laugh).